Faith and Mission by Sheng Lei

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Faith and Mission by Sheng Lei “Do you have faith?” ”If someone asks this question, I think the vast majority of people would first feel stunned, and then confused. Of course, almost no one asks this question these days. What is faith? In essence, faith is the firm and unwavering belief in the singular truth of the existence of all things. Simply put, it means you determine what is right and believe without any doubt that it is right. So, what makes you be absolutely certain that he is right? I’m afraid few people think he has it. In other words, that means few people consider themselves to have faith. What’s the matter if there’s no faith? Perhaps countless people have asked this question. Once upon a time, there was an “atheistic” scholar in Russia. One day, he spoke in a large venue to people, saying that God could absolutely not exist. When the audience felt he had a point, he loudly challenged God, saying, “God, if you truly have a spirit, please come down and kill me in front of this large crowd, and then we will believe that you exist!” ”He deliberately waited quietly for a few minutes; of course, God did not come down to kill him. He looked around at the audience and said, “You all see it – God doesn’t exist at all!” ” It is said that a woman stood up and said to him, “Sir, your theories are excellent; you are a man of great learning.” I am just a woman from the countryside; I cannot argue with you. I only hope you can answer a question in my heart: For many years now I have believed in Jesus, and having the Lord’s salvation in my heart brings me great joy ； I prefer reading the Bible; the more I read it, the more interesting it becomes, and my heart is filled with the comfort that Jesus gives me ； Because of believing in Jesus, life has its greatest joy. May I ask: if, upon my death, I discover that God does not exist at all, that Jesus is not the Son of God, and that the Bible is completely unreliable, what have I lost by believing in Jesus throughout my life? ” “The \"atheist\" scholar thought for a while; the room was completely silent. The audience agreed with the rural woman’s reasoning, and even the scholar was amazed at such simple logic. He replied in a low voice, \"Madam, I think you haven’t suffered any loss at all.\" ” The rural woman said to the scholar again, “Thank you for such a good answer.” I have another question in mind: when you die, if you discover that there truly is a God, that the Bible is absolutely true, that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, and that heaven and hell actually exist, I wonder what it is you lose? ”The scholar thought for a long time but was left speechless. This is an ordinary person’s understanding of faith; the feelings expressed here are very genuine. If we consider the issue of faith at a higher level, I believe it has two important functions. The first is a source of spiritual solace. What makes humans human, and what distinguishes us most from animals, is our thoughts and spirit; thus, in life, humans must confront those three simple yet unsolvable philosophical questions—\"Who am I?\" ”Where do I come from? ”Where am I going? ”. Countless people are troubled by such problems and at a loss, so many of them \"search high and low\". So can we just ignore it? Maybe it’s possible, but the consequence is that we tend to lose our direction when faced with difficulties ； We tend to give up easily when faced with setbacks ； When we are mentally exhausted, we don’t know where to turn. Actually, the answer to this question is quite simple: it’s faith. Faith provides our souls with a spiritual home. The second is to inspire a sense of awe. Faith is about people and things that are beyond one’s capabilities, which inspire a sense of awe. Those who fear nothing are terrifying; those who show no reverence for anything have no limits. So, do you have faith? Maybe you still don’t have it, and even when I ask myself, perhaps what I can offer **also doesn’t exist. This may not be your personal responsibility; to a large extent, it is the influence of our social environment on us. In such a historical context and social environment, how can we maintain faith? Should we turn to God again? Believe in Buddha? ......This will be very difficult for the vast majority of people; doing things on a superficial level can be relatively simple, but true inner acceptance and commitment are not something that can be achieved just by thinking about it. So, what should we do? Actually, I think that even if you don’t believe in gods, there are still many things one can believe in, or at least things we should revere. For example, the people revere the law, while officials revere the people ； Businessmen revere their conscience, customers revere value ； Employees revere the corporate spirit, while managers revere their mission and responsibilities... If these exist, then many ugly things in the world might not exist, and better things might naturally arise. So, what do we Zhongjing people believe in? What is there to revere? We have a clear mission: blue skies, green lands, clean water, and a better life. With such a mission, I think what we need to revere first is nature! It is nature that provides us with all the space and nutrients needed for life; as environmentalists, it is our responsibility and duty to protect her. Any harm done to her will cause us pain. Second, we need to revere human beings – those who live on this earth, our colleagues, our friends, our parents, and everyone around us. Only by respecting people can we truly honor them, and only then can we be filled with a desire from within to create a better world. Third, we need to revere innovation. Human society can only develop through innovation, and Zhongjing also relies on innovation to sustain itself and grow. Innovation has changed the world, but as people of Zhongjing, we have higher expectations for innovation: to use it to protect nature, to benefit humanity, and to make the world a better place! We have no choice regarding the era in which we live; we exist in an environment lacking faith, and this is our \"misfortune\". But we still have a mission, and it is the mission that gives us the conviction to move forward. Of course, I hope even more to find our faith as we move forward with conviction, so that our spirit can find a home to rest in.